Finding Sun
by DeweyJedediahGIRL
Summary: How do you ask her to come back to you, after you told her goodbye? When a family tragedy occurs, Renn leaves her ten-year-old daughter, Sun, With Dark. After a long hard five years Renn starts to question her own judgement.
1. Chapter 1

It's cold and dark. Sun is alone. The bitter wind whips her hair in her face, it nips at her skin, it calls to her. "Murderer!" It whispers.

Suddenly, her mother, Renn, is there, bringing light with her. Their eyes lock. Sun's heart is filled with longing for her mother's touch, for the warm embrace she has missed for a long, hard, almost five summers. Sun is perplexed at her mother's cold, hate filled gaze. Abruptly, like a rock has fallen to the pit of her stomach, she understands. She is the girl who killed Torak the spirit walker – her father.

Sun sat up in her sleeping sack.

_Father died trying to save me, I didn't kill him._ She sighed._ So why does mother hate me?_ She contemplated.

Her uncle, Dark, sat at the other side of the shelter. Dark wasn't her _real_ uncle, but he was so close to her parents, that they could have been siblings.

Dark frowned at her. "What's the matter Sun?" he said as he came and sat next to her.

Sun sighed. It would be silly to say there was nothing; he had always been very intuitive.

"It's just," she paused, considering how to phrase it.

"Why does mother hate me? I didn't kill my father, he died saving me." She closed her eyes and let her last memory of her father fill her mind.

. . . . .

Sun, her father and her uncle Dark had been rock climbing. She was ten summers old. They were almost at the top when sun had lost her balance. Her foot missed the crack, in her terror her hands had slipped, she was falling. _I'm going to die, I'm going to die, _was all she could think. A firm grip caught her around the wrist. She was safe. Her father hauled her up and placed her on the top of the cliff in Darks arms. Sun looked down at her mother's relieved, loving face and smiled shyly. Her mother looked shocked, hands on the little bump on her stomach.

Everything after that seemed to happen in a heartbeat, blink and you would miss it. In her father's haste to save his only child, he disobeyed rock climbing's first rule – keep three limbs on the rock at all times. He had only had two limbs on the rock. Her father fell to a heap at the bottom of the rock, dead.

. . . . .

Dark replied instantly. "She doesn't hate you." He said in a gentle voice. He had known this conversation would come up one of these days and he had been prepared, Sun _was_ almost fifteen summers old.

"So how come she left the day father was buried and hasn't come back?"

Dark sighed, "Renn – I mean your mother, just needed some time alone. That's all, she still loves you."

"ALONE TIME? IT'S ALMOST FIVE SUMMERS SHE'S BEEN GONE!" Sun yelled, tears cascading down her pale face. "THAT'S ALMOST FIVE SUMMERS THAT I'VE NEEDED A MOTHER! SHE WASN'T THE ONE THAT HAD TO FACE FATHERS DEATH! " Breathing heavily, she paused. "I just want to be loved. I just want her back. I want father back. I want everything to go back to how it used to be." She whispered.

Dark tilted his head down and smiled a sad smile, his cobweb-white hair covering his pale-grey eyes "I know _exactly_ how you feel."


	2. Chapter 2

Renn missed Sun greatly. She knew that after she had left, Sun would have thought Renn had stopped loving her. The truth was that she had never stopped loving her daughter. But if she looked into those silver eyes, identical to Torak's, Renn would feel anger towards the girl who took Torak away from her.

Renn could not forget her daughters red hair, identical to her own. She could not forget that look she sometimes gave, as if she could see into you and read your thoughts. She knew what she had to do, find her daughter. But then she wondered, would Sun want to see the mother that had forsaken her? The mother that she probably thought hated her? And with that, she was back to square one.

Pebble, the wolf she had stayed with, came and lay next to Renn. She had known him since he was a pup. He had been the only pup from Darkfur and Wolf's first litter to survive. Pebble had two pups, Rainbow and Pine, with his mate, Snow.

He whined at her. She guessed what he meant, and replied. "I miss Sun." she knew he wouldn't understand, but she had to tell someone before she broke down.

Pebble put his paws on her shoulders and put his forehead to hers, as if to say; _I understand._

"But what would _you_ do?" she asked

. . . . .

Fin tottered over to Renn (his mother) and Pebble. He was four and a half summers old, and had previously been teasing Pine, his little brown playmate, with a scrap of dried dear meat. Finn was short and chubby, with his fathers tanned skin and scruffy, long, black hair, and his mother's sharp-toothed grin and deep blue eyes. After living with the wolf's pack all of his short life, he had the same gift as his father had had; he could speak wolf.

_The pack-sister, your mother, is missing her other cub. Tell her she must go find it. _Pebble communicated – wolf language is not just about sounds, but movements and smells too.

"Mother? Pebble says you must go find your other child. Does that mean I can meet," he paused, trying to remember the name of the girl in the stories his mother had told him, "Sun?"

. . . . .

Renn smiled fondly at her little son. He had always been quite perceptive. Sun had only just started talking sense at all when she was his age. "Yes Fin, we're going to meet Sun, your older sister." She whispered, picking him up and hugging him tightly. Tears were running down her face, but Fin didn't ask why like you would have expected. Fin understood. He smiled shyly, reminding Renn of Sun's shy smile the day Torak had died.

"Now," Renn began "Go and tell Wolf we're going back to your sister and Uncle Dark – do you remember uncle Dark, he came to see us once?"

Fin nodded vigorously.

She smiled. "Tell Wolf we'll be ok on our own. I'm going to get all our stuff packed up. Ok?" Renn said enthusiastically.

"Yes mother." Fin smiled sweetly and toddled off.

Renn thought about how Wolf, Torak and herself had met. Torak had been twelve summers old when he found Wolf. Torak had been running away from the demon bear that had killed his father and Wolf, a pup whining for his family to play with him. His family had drowned in a flood. Torak had played with him, fed him, and had become like a brother to him. Torak found he could talk wolf, so they could communicate.

Torak and wolf had been travelling when she and some other raven clan hunters had caught them and taken them to camp. Renn's Uncle, Fin-kedinn (also clan leader and the man who Fin had been named after), had taken an instant dislike to Torak and told him they would kill him for trespassing on their land. Torak had brought up the clan law 'a man can fight if they have trespassed, if they win they can go free, if not the clan leader can do as they wish with the trespasser.' Torak had won – not in a very acceptable way though. He had stayed at the raven camp with wolf anyway. Torak and Renn had become good friends and fought the soul eaters together (along with wolf).

Renn remembered her and Torak's first kiss. They were fifteen summers old. Renn had twisted her ankle, so couldn't go with Torak to defeat the last soul eater, Eostra, at the Mountain of Ghosts. There had been prophecies saying Torak would die.

Renn replayed the scene in her head.

She was sat on the floor in the mountain hare's shelter. Torak was stood above her, telling her how she couldn't come because of her ankle. She had refused to stay. It was finally time for him to say goodbye; he was at a loss for words.

"Goodbye Renn. Whatever happens, you know- you must know how much I…" he paused and drew breath "May the guardian fly with you." He had bent down and kissed her, then turned and ran in to the dark.

She chuckled at his loss for words - 'I love you,' were probably the words that he couldn't seem to get out.


	3. Chapter 3

Sun peeked out from behind the tree. The deer she had been pursuing for the morning had stopped to sleep. It had a broken leg that jutted out at a very peculiar angle.

Sun nocked an arrow into her carefully polished yew bow, and took aim. She moved her right foot forwards to give her better balance and,

"Sun? Is that you?"

The deer jumped up in alarm and scampered for its life.

Sun lowered her bow and turned to scowl at – Darius? Her eyes opened wide in shock – she had expected her uncle Dark, and had found her friend, Darius from seal clan, instead – and then went back to scowl at the person who had scared away the deer she had been tracking all morning.

"Darius!" she scolded. "You have just scared away the deer I've been tracking all morning, you idiot! Now what do you want?"

"Well, I had hoped for a warmer welcome from the friend I haven't seen for four moons." He said, putting his hands over his heart in a playfully hurt gesture.

Sun couldn't help smiling at his round, grinning face.

Darius had straight, blonde hair that fell to the base of his neck and oddly shaped green eyes. He had blue bead-like stones in his hair, like most of his clan, and was tall and very muscled for his age, fifteen summers.

Overcome by a sudden urge, she ran at him and locked her arms around his waist.

Darius looked bewildered for a short moment, and then wound his arms around her too.

She hadn't meant to hug him, but she had always liked him – probably too much – and couldn't help it. He hadn't seemed to mind though – thankfully.

. . . . .

Darius liked their embrace very much. He hadn't admitted it, but he liked Sun very much, and hoped one day that she might like him back.

The hug lasted slightly too long, and Sun stepped back awkwardly and looking slightly embarrassed. She refused to meet his eyes for a little while.

He hadn't planned to, but Darius was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to tell her just how much he liked her – he was sure that the hug had meant more to Sun than a simple friend-to-friend hug. He choked the urge back and smiled brightly. He hadn't always been more confident than Sun, but after her father, Torak (who had been good friends with his father, Detlan) had died, she became increasingly shy and emotional.

Darius laughed and bent down a little so he was at her eye level, – she had always been quite short and he had shot up in the last summer – held her face so she had to look at him, and smiled. "You don't need to be embarrassed, there's no one else here – and I don't mind," he said gently.

Darius straightened up and said, "Lets go back to the shelter. I'm going to be staying with you for a while, if you don't mind, that is."

Sun smiled. "I don't mind."

They walked back to the shelter slowly and talked about what they had been doing over the past four moons.


	4. Chapter 4

They had been walking for the best part of the afternoon and evening. Renn and Fin were hungry and tired and it was getting dark so they needed to build a shelter to stay in for the night.

Fin looked as if he might have fallen asleep standing up if she didn't let him sleep that very moment.

"Fin? We're going to stop and build a shelter now, do you want to have a little sleep?"

Fin looked up at her with droopy eyes and nodded. He wondered to a patch of long grass at the side of the clearing they had entered into, lay down, and fell asleep almost instantly. Pine, who had insisted that he went to find Sun with his best friend and pack brother, padded over to Fin and snuggled up to him to keep him warm and protect him.

Renn collected wood for a shelter and fire, and soon had it up and ready to sleep in. She walked over to Fin and Pine and smiled at Fin's innocent sleeping form. She carried him to the shelter, Pine trotting behind, and gently stroked his cheeks.

"Wake up sweetie. You need some food."

Fin rubbed his eyes sleepily. He looked up at his mother, a furrow forming between his brows. "Mother, I had a dream. We were sat around a fire," he looked around "like this, and a man came in." the furrow between his brows increased "Mother, he looked like me, only he had silver eyes. You couldn't see him or hear him. Only I could. He told me to tell you that he loved you more than he could say. He said that he loved me too, and that he wished he hadn't died before he met me. Mother, I don't think that it was just any dream. I think that it was a message from the man."

Renn was still, her eyes wide. Her head was swimming with thoughts, but her voice refused to work. Finn picked up on the mood.

"Mother? Are you ok? Do you know the man? He crawled on to her lap and turned to face her.

Renn looked into his eyes and found her voice again, although it sounded strangled "Yes. He was your father." She struggled to form the word - "Torak, was his name."

Fin looked intrigued, but made no attempt to carry on the conversation.

"Lets get something to eat and then we can sleep." She slipped some strips of dried deer meat out of her food pouch, and gave some to Finn, Pine and took some for herself before saying thank you to the clan guardian and leaving some as an offering

When she had put Fin to sleep, (he had fallen asleep the moment he was fully in his sleeping sack.) she shut the shelter door, and drifted to sleep herself, thinking of Fin's dream and weeping quietly for her beloved Torak.

. . . . .

Renn is sat at a fire. Her whole family is there, Torak, Sun and Fin. They are laughing together. As she looks in to Torak's silver eyes, the children disappear. Torak moves towards her and takes her hands in his. "Renn." His voice sounds in pain with longing for his Mate. "I miss you _so_ much." Torak wraps his arms around Renn. He leans forwards and their lips press together. The Kiss is deep and slow. Torak's lips are warm and soft. She can feel his fast gasps of breath as the kiss becomes fast and hungry. She wishes she could stay there forever, but their lips part and Torak smiles. "Renn, in the spirit world, I have learned things. But I cannot tell you about that right now, I have to go." With one last kiss, he turns and leaves. Renn calls for him to come back, she shouts his name, but he has gone. She is alone.

. . . . .

Renn awoke breathing fast, her throat raw. A little face peered over her anxiously. Fin slowly extend his arm out and touched her cheek.

"Mother, are you ok? You've been shouting 'Torak' in your sleep." He said in a concerned tone. His face lightened up in understanding. "Did you dream about the man - father - too?"

"Yes little man," - Fin pulled a confused face at the name she had just given him - "I dreamed about Torak - He always knew you were going to be a boy, he liked to call you 'little man'." She changed the subject – "Anyway, lets get some food and then we can set off again."

When they had finished eating, Renn dismantled the shelter, and they left to carry on the long trek. She thought about Torak and their kiss. It had felt real. Fin had dreamed about him and now she had – there was something odd about this. She shook her head - She just wanted there to be something strange about this, wanted the dream to be true.

Fin was lagging behind, he loved to look at the trees or birds or tracks and identify them. They had been walking all morning and afternoon, and Fin was starting to tire.

"Fin, are you tired? Do you want me to carry you for a bit?" Fin looked up, his eyes drooping, and nodded. Renn scooped him up and sighed. It was going to be a long walk.


	5. Chapter 5

Darius tiptoed in from his 'room' of sorts in the little house-like shelter, into Suns 'room'. It was very early, and Sun only woke up when he sat on the floor next to her. It was Suns birthday.

Sun looked at him and sat up, wriggling so that only her bottom-half was in the sleeping sack. "Morning," she said

sleepily. "What are you doing in here this early?" She asked, but curiously not irritated like Darius had expected.

"I would like you to come and walk with me. Because it's your birthday – happy birthday – I've got a surprise for you." He gave her an affectionate smile, and took her hand to pull her up.

Once they had left the shelter, Darius led Sun on a long walk to a secluded clearing. At the edge of the clearing, was a well-camouflaged, tall hut. Darius had built it especially for the occasion. He led Sun in, as she stared in awe at the workmanship of the hut.

Inside, rows of tools were hung on the walls. There was a pile of scrap wood on the floor, but all Sun seemed to see was the small box in the corner. Darius went and picked it up. "Here, happy birthday. She carefully took the box and looked from it to Darius.

Sun looked mesmerised. "Did you make this yourself?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, but the real present is inside the box." He replied. He wasn't sure weather the silence was good or bad, and looked away apprehensively.

Sun opened the box and carefully retrieved the necklace. It was made with platted thread and on it was a blue stone amulet. The amulet was an intricately carved seal; Darius had thought it would remind her of him. Now however, he was worried she wouldn't like it.

"Its, amazing." She said breathlessly. "Could you help me put it on please?"

Darius put out his hand and Sun gently placed it there. He moved towards her and lowered it over her head. Their faces were so close that he could feel Suns hot breath caressing his cheek. The necklace reached the top of her white, cotton vest.

"The seal is supposed to be me, it's a symbol that I am yours." He whispered. Sun wrapped her arms around his waist tightly.

"Thank you." She muttered in to his chest. He could feel the warmth of her whole body, pressed against his. He put one hand on the small of her back and stroked her cheek with the other. Sun looked up in to his eyes. Darius wound his arms around her and lifted her so they were at the same height. He closed his eyes and found her lips with his. Her lips were sweet and warm and fitted to his perfectly, they worked in perfect harmony. The kiss seemed to last so long, yet it was too soon when it did finally end.

"Sun," Darius breathed, "I think I'm in love with you."


	6. Chapter 6

Renn looked at the sun, low in the sky. They would need to start making a shelter very soon or it would be to dark. Renn looked at fin and smiled, he had actually fallen asleep while walking and she had had to catch him before he hit the floor. She didn't want to stop, because it was only about half a day walk to where Dark and Sun lived, but she had to get some rest so she too, did not fall asleep still walking.

As she started looking for a clearing to make a shelter, a menacing, cub-ish growl sounded behind her. She swivelled around to see Pine; teeth bared growling at a seven foot high grizzly bear. Without making any sudden moves, Renn placed Fin on the floor and reached for her bow.

The bear's dry nose twitched as it sniffed the air. It's stomach rumbled and the bear looked at it angrily, before letting out a tremendous, thundering roar. As it charged towards Renn, It batted Pine out of the way, leaving him motionless against a tree stump.  
Renn nocked an arrow into her bow and aimed it at the hungry beast. It snarled and lunged at her. The arrow stabbed into its chest, and it fell. The half-ton mass crushed her knees and head to the floor, and an inky black emptiness compressed her in to the confines of her own consciousness, with the only sound being a far yet close voice shouting "Mother! Mother!" until she could hear no more.


	7. Chapter 7

. . . . .

Sun pushed away from Darius's chest looking confused and more than a little annoyed.

"Darius, I'm fourteen and a half summers old and your just fifteen summers old. Sure you like me but how can you possibly even think that you love me?! You probably don't even know what love is! Just when things were running smoothly you had to go and spoil it!" She yelled turning and sprinting out of the door.

Darius stood rooted to the spot, shock blatant on his face. He was about run out after her, when a voice in his head said stop. _Wait for a little while; she just needs time to sort her head out. _Darius sat on the floor and shut his eyes, willing time to pass quickly.

Three quick yanks on his jerkin pulled Darius out of his sleep.

"Sun, is that you?" He said yawning and stretching his arms. With another yank, he forced his eyes open to see a little boy who looked strangely familiar. A tug at the back of his mind told him he knew the boy, but he just couldn't work it out. It was very frustrating, like an itch that you just can't find.

"Please help me" said the little boy. He looked stricken with fear and was almost hyperventilating. "I have run almost half a day walk and I need help. My name is Fin and my mother is in a clearing half a day walk away. She got crushed by a giant bear that she had to kill and now she is unconscious but she is still alive. Please come, you have to help me."

Darius was astonished by the boy's speech. He could only have been five summers at the very most. "Yes I'll come and help you, but where are the rest of your family? What about your father?" He asked subspecialty.

"Please we can talk about this later, but right now my mother might be dying in a shelter somewhere." Fin said, before giving him a hard look – like the little boy was scanning him, and running as fast as his little legs could take him out of the doorway of the hut.

Darius noticed that the boy had ruddy cheeks from his run and looked very tired. It was almost dark outside but Darius knew that he had to go anyway. He ran after the little boy and picked him up. Fin smiled with gratitude and directed Darius to where his mother lay.

. . . . .

"...but after we kissed he said that he loved me! I mean, I'm only fourteen summers old! It's not even legal for me to look for a mate yet! Plus I'm too young love him and he's too young to love me. I'm so confused!" Sun Said to Dark.

"Sun, don't worry yourself. Even if he actually loves you, that doesn't mean you have to love him too. Your right, you are very young to be declaring you love to each other, so tell him. Tell him that you don't want to rush into it, that you want to take it slow. I know you like him, you always have. But you should leave him alone for a while. He is probably quite hurt right now." Dark smiled and hugged her. He looked proud yet somehow pained. He had been like her father for four and a half summers, and now she was growing up. He didn't want to let go yet somehow, he had to. He started a fire and they ate salmon cakes together. _Renn would be so proud_. He said to himself. _Her little girl is growing up. _


	8. Chapter 8

Darius had been running through the night. Surely they had come too far. "Fin, are you sure we haven't passed the clearing yet? We have been running for a very long time." He said, tired from the run and cold from the winter weather.

"I am not sure," said Fin, a crease forming between his brows. "I may have misjudged the distance between where my mother lay and where I found you." He looked up pouting. "Maybe I should just call for Pine" contemplated with himself. Darius shook his head confused and frustrated by the boys flow of meaningful babble.

"What?" Darius said, his face contorting with angry confusion. He was tired, hot and thirsty. Now tetchy too. "Please explain what you mean." He knew he shouldn't be angry at the boy, he was only young.

"Pine is my wolf friend. The bear that hurt my mother also knocked Pine in to a tree and he was unconscious. But I managed to wake him up before I left so that I would be able to find the clearing when I came back. He didn't think that I would be able to find anyone and he wanted to come with me. I told him he had to stay in case mother woke up. It took me a very long time to convin-" Fin was cut off by a loud howl in the distance. Fin's eyes opened wide and he pointed his little fingers east. "There east – It won't take long at all if you sprint." His eyes were clouded with fear. Closing them, he started making strange howling yapping noises.

Darius looked at the little boy, confusion flooding his mind. He stopped and looked at Fin, perplexed. _Is he damaged in the head? Has he escaped from his clan? Maybe he is possessed by a demon!_ There were no visible signs for any of this, he was very well spoken – no sign of head damage – his eyes were normal and he was not angry at all. So what was this little boy doing?

Fin opened his eyes and turned his head so his left ear was facing forwards, as if he was listening. There! That howling in the distance again! What was going on? "What is going o- "

"Why have we stopped? We need to find my mother." Fin interjected, looking slightly annoyed.

Darius started running again. "wha-" he started. He didn't know what to say. It looked like the boy was talking to the howling wolf in the distance.

"You look so confused. Why is that?" Fin said, looking rather mage like.

"Well," Darius said, "I really don't know what's happening, but it looks somewhat like you are conversing with the wolf I can hear, but that, is impossible."

Fin looked over at Darius, bewilderment written over his little face. "It's not impossible, why would you think that?"

. . . . .


	9. Chapter 9

Renn lay in the darkness, trapped inside her own head. She wanted to sleep, to let the darkness take over her completely. The warmth of death was peaceful, inviting, Renn just wanted to wrap it around her, to give in...

...Renn drifted back in to the consciousness of her own mind. What was going on? Where was she? She pushed at the darkness with all her strength. Her body ached, why wouldn't it move? Renn stopped struggling with herself. Someone was with her. It was like a warm soft light, brushing her side. Pine. But where was Fin? She wanted - she needed - she - sh - Thump-thump. Thump-thump...

...Renn could feel the pace of her heart – it was a thick, slow thud-thud. Thump-thump. She had neglected the idea of letting the darkness win, but she couldn't remember why, she would be re-united with Torak if she slipped away now. Yes! That was what she should do! Let it take her now! Her heart beat slowed, thump-thump thump-thump. Thump. Thump... thump.

. . . . .

"Darius? Darius," Sun howled into the night. She had not seen him since that afternoons episode and she was now very worried about him. He was capable of looking after himself, she knew that, but he would very upset – so he might do something naive and childish.

Sun had now arrived at the shelter where it had happened. Treading slowly and carefully as not to disturb the tracks, she entered the shelter. Sun swiftly scraped her splint against the ruff side of her pack, emitting a spark of life, and lit the branch she had brought. What she saw next completely bewildered her. There were two tracks! One had big clumsy feet, obviously Darius, but there was also a little pair. They must have belonged to a child. The little child had run in to Darius. After that – it looked like they had run out together. Sun followed the tracks further. The little tracks disappeared after a small while, and Darius' tracks had become deeper – he had picked the little child up. Sun couldn't understand what was going on. Why would Darius run away with a child?

It was dark and Sun was tried. As much as it pained her, she would have to stop pursuing him and go to the shelter to sleep. This would have to wait until the morning. She started the long trek home, thoughts of what could have happened to Darius and the child weaving their way through her mind.

. . . . .

Sun is in the woods near the shelter. She is weeping fresh tears for her father, although it has been five summers. She has been trying to squash her grief down for too long, and it has exploded. She is on her knees shaking with loud sobs. She has not the strength to stop them. A hand touches her shoulder, warm and loving. She looks over her to see her father, smiling comfortingly.

"It's ok." He utters. "I'm still here with you-" He pats his chest softly. "In here." Sun throws herself into his arms, sobbing louder.

"I'm so sorry father! It's my entire fault! It's my fault your de- de-" She cannot finish the sentence and buries her face in her father's chest.

"Why would you think it was your fault?" Torak says questioningly. "I saved you- that was me. I fell because I would rather die than see you fall to the bottom of that cliff, and I did. None of it is your fault. Who told you it was your fault?" He says.

"Well, no one. But mother left me because she blamed me." Sun says, the tears still streaming down her pallid face.

"No, Sun. Your mother was just upset. Listen, it is not your fault. Sun, when you wake up, understand that this is not just a dream. It's reality. Believe it.

Sun awoke with a jolt. What did this all mean?

. . . . .

**Please people, review! If you like it (or not) comment! I need something to cheer me on and give me some motivation! It will only take me longer otherwise. So please R&R. Thank you.**


	10. Chapter 10

He could see the pale woman in a deep slumber. Darius stopped at the edge of the clearing, his breath ruff and deep. Her breathing was almost nonexistent. She looked alive yet dead, dead yet alive. The wolf cub looked up at him and growled menacingly, bearing its long, white, sharp teeth.

"Put me down quickly," Fin said, again making the strange yapping noises. The wolf's eyes opened wide, and he made a strange purring noise, as if to apologise. "You can go check on my mother now" Fin whispered as he ran and started licking and snuffling the little wolf.

As Darius approached the woman, his heart froze. Renn. He used what energy he had left to dart over to sun's mother. He pressed his palm to her chest to feel the tiny beat, like that of an early new-born. Darius put one hand on top of the other and started repeatedly pressing down. Hard. He didn't know why he was doing this, only maybe to beat for her. "Fin, go and find me some water and food, I need some energy before I carry on," he yelled to the boy, still pressing down on Renn's chest.

Fin sprinted of, a new burst of energy taken from beyond himself.

"Come on Renn! Wake up! Don't go yet, your son and daughter need you more than ever!"

As Fin returned with some water and dried deer meat from his mothers pouch, Darius grabbed it and ate the food quickly thanking the guardian and drank the water. After resting for only a fraction, Darius bent over and took her limp body in to his arms. His arms and legs screamed at him under the pressure but he ignored it and ran at full speed in the direction of the shelter. Fin and pine followed just a few steps behind. The little boy's legs were working at such an incredible speed they weren't far off of a blur.

. . . . .


	11. Chapter 11

Torak's bare feet shuffled over the dust of the ground. He hated it here. The waiting place. It was his own choice that he was here, yet most days he regretted it dearly. He looked up, over to the horizon, grimacing at the sight; the greyish dust leading undisturbed to the pink line of the horizon. From there, the sky was crimson. It never changed, morning until night, until morning. Sometimes, he wanted to quit and carry on to the afterlife, but he couldn't. If he left now, he would never be able to see his mate and children again. All he could do in this directionless existence was walk around in the unchanging surroundings. In this life, he had no need to eat, or anything that he could eat anyway. He didn't need to drink, and there was no water. Sleep wasn't even possible. He almost wished that there was no such thing as an afterlife, that his soul would have just disappeared the instant that his body had hit the cold ground, limp and lifeless, that death truly meant death. Torak had met someone here once, a little boy. His name was Karoth – meaning 'lost'. His nine years in the waiting place had caused him to go completely mad. He had had find his way to the afterlife without his parents whom he had waited for. Torak had feared this happening to him, but had clung on to the picture of his mate, daughter and beautiful son. He had only ever seen his son once, and through someone else's mind.

Torak spent every day waiting until his family would be asleep, although he couldn't be sure when that was as there was no night and day in The Waiting Place. Then he would sit on the ground, and close his eyes. If his family were in fact asleep he had figured out that he could enter their dreams. However, it wasn't that simple – it never is. Torak's family had to first think of him, before he could say what he wanted and do what he wanted. He had been lucky as his whole family had dreamed about him in a short space of time. But it struck him as strange that Fin had dreamed of a man he had never met first. Fin had managed to picture Torak, when he had never seen him. It was impossible yet incredible!

Torak paced around, shaking – he was exited, angry and scared. He hated himself for being so happy, yet he couldn't help it. His mate might come to him! He didn't want her to die, because she needed to look after the children, yet he was _so_ lonely. He needed company now, or he might go mad like Karoth! Torak balled his fists and tucked them under his armpits, before sitting on the floor and screwing his eyes up.


End file.
